


Summer Lovin'

by Kalakat



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Lifeguards, Drug Dealing, F/M, Luke is a shit, Past Child Abuse, Percy is a Dork, Piper is a fangirl, SO MUCH FLUFF, Summer, percabeth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-16
Updated: 2014-10-04
Packaged: 2018-02-13 10:47:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2147874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalakat/pseuds/Kalakat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"What's your name?"<br/>"You've asked me this before."<br/>"You didn't answer me before."<br/>"Why do you want to know my name?"<br/>"Friends need to know each others names."<br/>"Were not friends."<br/>"But we could be, if you told me your name."<br/>Percy is a lifeguard, Annabeth can't seem to avoid him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. poolside

**Author's Note:**

> Hope this is an acceptable Percabeth

“He’s staring at you.”  
Annabeth sighed and set down the book she was reading.  
“You have pointed this out to me many times, Piper.”  
“Just look, Annabeth.”  
Annabeth glanced over to the lifeguard, to see he was staring at her. He smiled and tilted his head when he saw her looking over, but she just returned to her book.  
Next to her Piper sighed, “Annabeth, he is literally telling you to come over. Why don’t you?!”  
“Jason! Your girlfriend is annoying me!” she called out without looking up from her book. All she got in response though, was a long groan. Jason was half asleep, lounging on a pool chair in the shade. Trying to concentrate on her book, Annabeth didn’t notice PIper reaching for it and snatching the novel away.  
“Hey! Piper, give it back!”  
Laughing slightly, Piper ran and hid it in her bag next to Jason. She turned, and grabbed Annabeth’s arm, dragging her from the chair towards the water.  
“Piper, stop! I don’t want to swim with you!”  
Piper turned her pleading eyes onto Annabeth, and pouted her lips slightly.  
“Please come swimming with me? Jason won’t come and you never go swimming. “ Annabeth sighed and ran her free hand through her blond hair.  
“Will you leave me alone if I go swimming?”  
Piper smiled really big, and clutched Annabeth’s hand even harder.  
“YES! I swear, I’ll bother Jason after. I will let you read in peace, and never make you come swimming with me again.” Reaching out, she took the sunglasses of her friends head, and threw them onto her chair. “C’mon.”  


Groaning, Annabeth let herself be dragged to the pool edge. Before she could stop Piper, she was pulled into the pool by her friend, right were the lifeguard was. As the cool water surrounded her, she screamed inwardly at Piper. Why did she come with Piper today? Something like this always happened when she hung out with her. After she broke up with her ex, Luke, Piper had been trying to get her a boyfriend. It could be a waiter, lifeguard, or one of Piper’s handsome cousins, she always said no. She wanted to find a boyfriend herself, when she was ready.  


Annabeth’s feet hit the rough bottom of the pool, and she shot up like a rocket. Gasping for air, the blond smoothed back her hair and turned to her grinning friend.  
“Sorry, but I knew we would get more attention if we jumped in.”  
Glaring, Annabeth splashed water in the brunettes face, causing her to laugh. Piper hit her back with another wave, and eventually Annabeth was laughing too. They swam in the pool for a while, and a few times, Annabeth would catch the lifeguard staring at her.  


“Go talk to him.” Piper urged her.  
“Piper, I will not talk to him. I don’t want to talk to him. Please, stop harassing me to- AHHH!” Out of nowhere, a football came swirling their way, hitting Annabeth hard in the boob.  
“Holy crap, Annabeth! Are you okay?”  
“Fine, I’m fine.” she gasped, trying not to cry. “Shit, shit, shit, Piper he’s coming over!”  
Annabeth was trying not to hold her tender boob, as the lifeguard came jogging over.  
“Piper, this is so embarrassing! I got hit by a football in the boob! Why is he coming over!? Shit, shit, shit!” Piper seemed pretty shocked herself, as the lifeguard bent down on one knee at the edge of the pool.  
“Hey, are you okay?” His green eyes looked at her concerned.  
“I’m fine, I just need to get out, so…” Annabeth swam to the ladder next to the lifeguard and pulled herself up. The throbbing of her left boob was going down, but her embarrassment was rising. She got hit with a football! A football! In the boob! It was almost funny how pathetic it was. Annabeth heard footsteps behind her and assumed it was Piper but, when she turned around, It was the lifeguard.  


“What are you doing?” Annabeth asked, putting some space between them.  
“I wanted to know if you’re okay.” he said, stopping next to her chair. Annabeth grabbed her towel, and wrapped it protectively around her body.  
“I told you I was fine…” Annabeth answered absentmindedly, as she looked for Piper. The brunette was still in the pool, watching them with a cheshire cat smile.  
“Just checking, my friend Rachel got hit uh, there, once and she wouldn’t stop complaining about how much it hurt”  
“Where is this Rachel? Maybe you should go bother her?” She looked at him, and was struck with how green his eyes were. He smiled and ran a hand through his black hair.  
“She smartened up. Told me to go bother someone else so, here I am.” He gestured to her pool set up, and laughed a little bit. Annabeth smiled slightly at him, and picked up her bag, starting to pack up. She could feel the lifeguard staring at her for a while, and when she turned to confront him, he was giving her this stupid lopsided grin. Annabeth raised her eyebrows at him, before continuing packing.  


“What’s your name?” he asked as she put her shirt on over her damp bathing suit. Annabeth snorted and reached for her shorts.  
“I don’t like giving out personal information to strangers.” She said, slinging her yellow polka dot back over her shoulder, motioning for him to get out of her way.  
“I’m Percy.” he said, as she pushed by him.  
“That’s nice.” she called to him as he speed walked to catch up to her.  
“Will you come back soon?”  
“Why do you care?” Annabeth was surprised, this guy could not take a hint.  
“I need someone to annoy.” he said jokingly. As they passed Piper still in the pool, Annabeth glared down at her. Piper looked extremely proud of herself, and would probably gloat about this moment for a long time. Annabeth just rolled her eyes and kept marching on. Suddenly, Percy zoomed in front of her, blocking the exit for the pool.  
“What’s your name?”  
“You’ve asked me this before.”  
“You didn’t answer me before.”  
“Why do you want to know my name?”  
“Friends need to know each others names.”  
“Were not friends.”  
“But we could be, if you told me your name.”  
Annabeth stared intently at Percy before, her grey eyes scanning his face.  
“It’s Annabeth.”  
Percy smiled, and stepped aside for her to get by. He bowed mockingly, and despite her annoyance, she smiled.  
“Till next time, M’lady.”  
“I can see why you have no friends.” She said, finally making it out of the pool.  
“Not everyone appreciates my wit.”  
She looked at him one more time, and he was smiling that smile.  
She decided she hated that smile.  
Walking away she took out her phone and prepared a very angry message for Piper. As she typed, she tried to ignore the green eyes watching her walk away. She also tried to ignore, the soft flutters of excitement at the thought of seeing Percy again.


	2. swept off her feet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just figuring out HTML coding so bare with me

When Annabeth opened the door to her apartment, she was greeted by Piper smiling hugely. She starting doing a happy dance in the doorway, as Annabeth just shook her head and walked into her apartment. Piper bound past her and did a little scream as she jumped on her couch/bed.

“OH MY GOD!!!!!! Annabeth, tell me? Did you get his number? Did you guys makeout? Did he take you home? TELL ME!” 

“What are you talking about?” Annabeth asked as she handed Piper a glass of ice tea. She sat on her makeshift bed with Piper, and turned on the t.v, trying to tune her obnoxious friend out. 

“I’m talking about what happened at the pool the other day with that guy!”

“Oh,” Annabeth shrugged and took a sip of her own drink, “nothing happened. His name is Percy. I probably won’t see him again. End of story. Not to mention, you saw me leave the pool alone, what did you think, we met up afterwards and had a passionate one night stand?” 

She snorted, and turned the volume up on the t.v, pretending to be invested in a rerun of Keeping Up With The Kardashions, while she secretly studied Piper out of the corner of her eye. Her friend was staring at her intensely, and after a few minutes of burdening her creepy stares, Annabeth finally snapped. 

“What?!”

“You’re such a party pooper. A guy likes you, he makes the first move, and you turn him down. This has happened, what, like, four different times now! And, okay, I’ll admit, the one that worked at Old Navy wasn’t that cute but, Annabeth, honey, it’s been almost a year, it’s time to move on.” 

Annabeth remained silent as she picked up the remote and began flipping through channels. She resented the way Piper knew exactly what she was thinking, and the fact that she was right. 

“I’m just not ready.” Annabeth lied, not meeting Piper’s eye. 

Piper sighed and wrapped her arms around her blonde friend, kissing her on the head.

“...I just want you to be happy…” She mumbled into Annabeth’s hair. 

“I know.” Annabeth whispered back. 

The girls spent the rest of the day together, lounging on the couch and eating candy. They talked about Jason, their family’s, and old friends from high school they then proceeded to stalk on facebook. The only thing they didn’t bring up was Percy. 

As Piper was leaving, she gave her friend another hug, squeezing her shoulders. 

“Remember, Leo is having that party tomorrow night and you said you would come…”

“I know, now get out of my house.” Annabeth said with a smile, pushing her friend out the door. 

As she began picking up the mess of candy wrappers the girls had left, Annabeth thought about her ex, Luke. She knew he had met someone new months ago, some girl from the new school he transferred to after their break up. 

“Maybe I should start dating again…” she thought, laying down in her bed. Although she tried to cast the thought aside, it still bounced around her head until she finally fell asleep hours later. 

The next day, she couldn’t get rid of the nervous jitters about the party later that night. As she drove to work, it seemed to be the only thing she could think about. While she waited tables at her crappy waitressing job, she forgot several of the orders and messed up more than half of them. She spilled juice all over one customer and completely forgot to bring food to one table. She was surprised that by the end of the day she wasn’t fired. 

While she got ready for the party, she managed to cut herself shaving and stab herself in the eye with her mascara wand, all within a half hour. 

“Piper, I don’t think I can make it tonight,” she called Piper over the phone, surrounded by clothes all over her floor and bed. 

“What? No, you have to come!” 

“I can’t Piper, I’m a complete mess! All of my clothes are wrinkled, I can’t find the perfume I want to wear, and my hair dryer broke!” 

There was a pause on the other line, until Piper finally said, “I’m coming over.” 

The brunette found her friend 15 minutes later sitting in her underwear on her bed, reading a book. 

“What are you doing?!” 

Annabeth looked up from the novel, and slowly set it down.

“Well, I was waiting for you…” she mumbled. Piper sighed and grabbed her arm, leading her into the bathroom, grumbling about having to do everything in their friendship. 

When the girls emerged an hour later, Annabeth’s hair was dried and twisted into a waterfall braid, her curls cascading down to her mid back. The dress she wore was light purple, with white lace detailing around the collar and lower hem. It had thin straps and stopped a few inches above the knee. Piper had given it to her ages ago, but Annabeth had never felt the urge to wear it. One of the reasons being, the dress had a push up bra installed, practically sending Annabeth’s knockers up to her chin. Piper wouldn’t stop going on about how great her chest looked though. 

“Oh, I just want to reach out a squeeze them!” she exclaimed, cupping her hands around Annabeth’s boobs. 

“Why am I friends with you?” 

The entire ride to the party, Annabeth’s heart pounded and her hands shook. 

“Jesus, Annabeth, relax. Why are you so nervous for this party?” Piper asked, looking over at her friend from the drivers seat.

“I don’t know, it’s been a while since I’ve gone out, I guess.” 

The party was on the beach, so the girls left their shoes in the car and walked onto the sand barefooted. People mingled around the bonfire, some drinking from red cups, others sitting on wooden benches around the flame. Annabeth was flushed with relief when she saw that she knew or was familiar with everyone at the party. Piper grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd of people, everyone stopping to smile or say hi to the girls. When they finally found Leo, he was laying in the sand with his head in his girlfriend, Calypso’s, lap. 

“Annabeth!” he said, scrambling to get up, “You made it!” 

He wrapped his old friend in a hug, and Annabeth was overwhelmed with the smell of cinnamon and car oil, smells that reminded her of high school 2 years ago. 

“Hi, Leo” she said, hugging him back. 

The two friends talked with each other as Piper went off to find Jason, catching up on their lives since they last saw each other. As Leo was reenacting a story about some invention gone wrong, Annabeth looked away for one second, her gaze falling upon a familiar shock of black hair. She let out a squeak and began planning out her retreat when Leo stopped telling the story, turning to see what she was looking at. 

“What is it?” he said, frowning slightly. A split second later though, his face broke into a grin when he spotted the person Annabeth was trying to avoid. 

“Yo! Percy!” he shouted across the fire pit. 

“Shhh! Leo, no, it’s fine, don’t-” but Percy already started coming over. 

“Kill me now,” she thought, as the lifeguard came and sat down in front of the duo.

“Hey man, what’s up?” Percy asked, leaning back on his hands, locking eyes with Annabeth. Realization dawned on his face, and his mouth broke into a huge grin. He leaned forward, his eyes glowing with joy, “Annabeth?” he asked. 

When she nodded, he let out a laugh and took a swing from Leo’s drink. 

“You two know each other?” Leo asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Yes,” “No,” they both said at the same time, causing Percy to chuckle even more. 

“You remember how I’m a lifeguard at that pool across town? I met Annabeth there a few days ago.” Percy said, his eyes twinkling. 

“Uh huh,” Leo said nodding his head, then shooting a wink at Annabeth. She resisted the temptation to put her head in her hands, instead standing up, pronouncing, “I’m getting a drink.” 

As she speed walked away, she resisted the urge to look back, but she could tell Percy and Leo were now talking about her. Spotting Piper cuddling on a blanket by the water with Jason, Annabeth stormed over until she stood over them. 

“Can I help you?” Piper asked, lifting her head off of Jason’s stomach. 

“Percy. Is. Here.” she said through gritted teeth. 

“Percy?” Jason asked, opening an eye, “Percy Jackson?” 

“Yessss,” Annabeth hissed, still glaring at Piper. 

“No way, I love Percy!” 

“What?!” the girls exclaimed, both in confusion. 

“Yeah, me, him, and Leo have video game tournaments together, sometimes Nico comes.” 

“You couldn’t have mentioned this earlier? I’ve been talking about this kid for the past 2 days, and you couldn’t have told me you knew him?” Piper asked, frowning. 

Jason shrugged, “Well, maybe if you stopped talking, I could have said something.” 

Piper grinned and gave him a light whack over the head, “You little shit brick!” she said, causing both of them to laugh. 

“What do I do?” Annabeth exclaimed as the couple sunk back into their previous positions. 

Piper rolled her eyes at her, “Go talk to him.” 

Annabeth opened her mouth about to argue, when Jason gave Piper a kiss, which turned into a full on make out session. Groaning, Annabeth stomped away, searching for someone else to talk to. 

“Hey,” Annabeth felt someone touch her shoulder, and when she turned it was Percy holding out a red cup. 

“Surprise, surprise.” she thought. 

“Oh, ugh thank you but, I don’t drink, so…” 

“Don’t worry, it’s seltzer.” he smiled, and motioned for her to take the drink from his hand.

“Thanks,” Annabeth repeated, slowly taking a sip. 

“Do you want to go on a walk?” Percy asked slowly, his green eyes content.

Annabeth looked around, trying to see if she could come up with an excuse. Unfortunately, they seemed to be the only two standing in the twelve foot area and it would seem extremely obvious if Annabeth tried to leave. Sighing, she nodded her head and they began walking down towards the water. 

“So…” she said, trying to start small talk, “where are you from?" 

“New York City,” he said, swinging his arms out in front of him.

“Somebody’s a long way from home…” she said, causing him to laugh. 

“Yeah...how about you?” 

“San Fran but, I actually lived in New York for a few years when I was younger.” 

“Really? Why’d you leave?” 

“My dad got a new job… I would come back for the summer though.” 

“Why only for the summer?” He looked at her with his crooked smile, that stupid smile she hated. Instead of smiling back, she took a long sip from her drink. 

“Well, if you must know, I went to this summer camp every year since I was seven, and I never wanted to stop going.” she said, playing with the now empty cup in her hand. 

“What summer camp?” Percy asked, seeming genuinely curious.

“Camp Half Blood, it was this live action role play camp, I used to love it , but I guess it’s kind of stupid…” Annabeth hated how she suddenly felt embarrassed in front of Percy, and wished she had never said anything about it in the first place. Her memories from Camp Half Blood were some of her favorite, she should never feel ashamed of them. 

Percy’s eyes grew wider and he practically started skipping from excitement, “I went to Camp Half Blood!” 

“NO,” she said, shaking her head, already starting to smile, “You’re lying.” 

“I’m not! You got sorted into the different godly houses, we had capture the flag games, there was a huge strawberry field, a lake!” They were both laughing now, Annabeth forgetting about her irrational resentment. 

“What cabin were you in? When did you start going? Why don’t I remember seeing you there?” 

“Cabin three-” 

“No!” Annabeth was shocked, “You must have been really good at the water sports!” 

Percy shrugged, “There were only a few other campers in the cabin, so it was actually kind of lonely.” 

Annabeth was still in awe, “But thats one of the hardest cabins to get into! Why don’t I remember you?” 

“I started going when I was...twelve? I think? I almost got kicked out a few times…” 

“Oh my god, I do remember you! You almost destroyed every single building at one point. I would come for my weeks and they would always be doing some repairs on what you broke.” 

If it wasn’t dark, Annabeth could have sworn Percy blushed. He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck and an embarrassed smile played on his lips. “Yeah, I thought Mr.D was gonna murder me...what cabin were you in?” 

“Athena.” Annabeth said proudly, causing Percy to chuckle. 

“Oh, they hated me the most.” 

“Really? During my week we loved you, because you destroyed everything it meant we got to redesign it all! I guess we went on different weeks, even though I always ended up staying most of the summer.” 

“Yeah, I always wanted to get home to make sure my mom was okay, one week was enough for me.” 

“What do you mean, ‘make sure your mom was okay’?” Annabeth didn’t mean to pry, but the words had already come out before she could hold them in. Percy looked uncomfortable, and Annabeth instantly regretted saying anything. 

“I’m sorry, you don’t have to-AHHHHH!”

The duo hadn’t realized how close they had come to the water, and as she was apologizing, a huge wave came and knocked her off her feet. Annabeth began falling forward into the sea foam, still making a weird half yelling noise and reaching for anything to keep her balanced. 

So she grabbed onto Percy’s shirt. 

The pair fell into the sea together, getting drenched by the wave being swept back into the ocean. Percy was laughing as he helped her back up, but Annabeth was trying to make sure her nippels didn’t show through her tight dress. 

“You okay?” he chuckled, already taking off his wet shirt. Annabeth tried to avoid looking at his bare chest, instead focusing on the sand grains in his slightly damp hair. 

“I’m fine,” she said, her old coolness returning, “I think it’s time for me to go.” She turned without another look and practically sprinted to Piper and Jason’s towel. 

“Annabeth, wait!” she heard Percy calling but she didn’t stop. 

When she reached her best friend, Piper was already standing up with a half smile on her face.

“What happened?” she smirked.

“Just take me home.” Annabeth whisper yelled, grabbing her friend and dragging her from the party.


	3. swimming lessons

“I don’t see what the big deal is, I actually thought it was kind of romantic…”

“Piper, it was embarrassing!” 

“Do you know how many times I embarrassed myself in front of Jason before we started dating? I literally do stupid stuff all the time.”

Annabeth sighed and wrapped the blanket they found in the trunk of Piper’s car closer around her. Her clothes were soaked, her confidence shot, and all she wanted to do was go home and watch Game of Thrones. 

“You seemed to be having a pretty good conversation,” Piper said, looking over at the passenger seat, “You didn’t even notice the tide was coming in.”

“We were talking about Camp Half Blood.” She muttered back.

Her friend snorted, “Figures.”

She turned the radio up, the music making any further conversation futile. Piper had come to camp with Annabeth one year and did not have the best experience. She was already upset she and Annabeth weren’t in the same cabin, but only got moodier when she was bullied relentlessly by her Aphrodite cabin mates. She was more than happy when the week was over, and never wanted to come back. As they pulled up to Annabeth’s apartment building, Piper turned the music off and looked at Annabeth.

“I know you’re probably gonna say no, but me and Jason are going to the pool tomorrow and we’d love it if you came.”

Annabeth stayed silent thinking through the different scenarios of what could happen.

‘You could get your period and have it bleed through your suit.’ ‘Someone could spill something on you. You could spill something on yourself!’ ‘You could slip and fall into the pool, being knocked out in the process.’ ‘You could get a booger in your nose and not realize, its happened before.’ ‘You could get to know him better.’ ‘You could figure out how he even managed to destroy a whole set of bleachers in the arena, you’ve always wondered.’ ‘Maybe he would ask you on a date.’

Annabeth immediately tried to push away that thought, recoiling at the idea. A date with Percy was the last thing she needed.

‘Maybe he won’t even be there.’

Climbing out of the car, she slammed the door shut, and stood in front of the open window for a second. Hesitating, she leaned down and met Piper’s anxious eyes.

“Pick me up at two.” she practically spit out, before speed walking to her building. 

She heard Piper squeal, “Wear the coral two piece, your boobs look huge in that!” she shouted, before peeling away from the curb like a maniac. 

As they entered the pool, Annabeth’s eyes began searching for the mess of black hair and the slouched posture she knew to be Percy. She mindlessly trailed after Piper and Jason, and miraculously didn’t run into anything or anyone. She set her stuff down and almost didn’t notice Piper putting her floppy hat onto the seat next to Annabeth. 

“What are you doing? I thought you were sitting over there?”

“I am,” Piper grinned, dancing over to her chair on the blondes other side, “That one is being saved.”

“For who?” Annabeth was immediately suspicious.

“You’ll see.” Her smile gave off the impression she was very pleased with herself, making Annabeth anxious.

“Piper…” she warned.

“Relax, it’s for Leo. God, you’re no fun.” Piper flopped down onto her chair and began applying sunscreen to her arms. Frowning when she saw she took to much, she reached over to her boyfriend and spread the rest onto his chest.

“You have to be protected from the sun, Jacy, you don’t want to get a sunburn!” She fake lectured in a mom voice, as Jason laughed and let her apply the rest to his face.

Meanwhile, Annabeth opened her book and shut out everything around her. Time seemed to slow down as she dove into the world of Harry Potter, remembering how much she used to love the books as a kid. As Harry was roaming the halls in his invisibility cloak searching for the Mirror of Erised, a loud noise to her left distracted her from reading. Leo had finally arrived, his arms full of pool toys and bags full of who knows what.

“Hey guys!” he said happily, dropping everything in his arms onto his pool chair. 

“Hi, Leo, uh, why do you have so much stuff?” Annabeth asked, reaching down to pick up a wrench that fell from a bag. She raised her eyebrows and held it up for him to see. 

Leo just shrugged, “I get bored.” 

When Piper saw he had arrived, she jumped up from her seat and ran over to hug him.

“Leo! You came!” looking down she noticed all of the bags, “And you brought your entire apartment with you…?” 

“Water you talking about?” he said, chuckling at his own pun. Piper groaned, shoving Leo in the shoulder. 

“Hey, water puns are hard to come up with,” he argued. 

“Yeah, I’m sure you’ve been saving that one.” she scoffed, organizing Leo’s mess of belongings. 

“I have actually, you sea…” he paused waiting for her to get the joke. When she did, Piper whacked him with a pool noodle. Annabeth knew that Leo wouldn’t run out of puns for a while, and didn’t want to be there when Piper got her hands on something heavier than a pool noodle. Sighing, she stood up from her chair and began pulling her dress back on.

“I’m going to get a drink, Do you guys want anything?” 

“I would love something Annabeth, I’m all dried up.”

“Enough with the puns!” Piper yelled, putting her head in her hands. 

“You shore are crabby today, Pipes. Normally you love my puns.” Leo said, patting her on the shoulder. 

As Annabeth walked to the food shack, she dodged small children, splashes of water, and the occasional flying pool toy. She stopped though when she heard a familiar laugh coming from the shallow end of the pool. Walking over, Annabeth stood and watched the lifeguard holding on to a flailing kid in the water. 

“The trick is to form an ice cream scoop with your hands, so when you dip it into the water, its like you’re scooping up the ice cream.” he said, showing the boy how to cup his hand. 

As the kid began paddling his way through the water, Percy slowly began loosening his grip until his arms were only hovering around the swimming child.

“Wait! You have to keep holding on!” the kid cried, already beginning to falter in the water.

“C’mon Zeke, you got this! With that form, you’re going to be an olympian in no time!” Percy cheered on. He kept encouraging Zeke until they were a few feet from the edge of the pool.

“Already, I’m going to let go all the way now, do you think you can make it to the wall?”

“No.” 

“Yes you can,” Percy laughed, “I’ll be right here, why don’t you give it a try.”

Zeke nodded his head, and hesitantly began splashing his way to the edge of the wall, a look of pure concentration on his face. When the kid managed to grab the wall with one hand, Percy threw his hands into the air and cheered. Annabeth was startled when a row of about five other kids she hadn’t seen before cheered as well, as did the sitting parents behind her. 

‘He’s teaching swimming lessons.’ she thought. 

Percy saw her then and his face broke out into a grin. Raising a hand out of the water, he waved at her. She waved back to him, and laughed when Zeke began waving to her too. 

“Alright guys, let’s head over to the diving board.” Percy called, still looking at her. Zeke clambered onto his back as the class climbed out of the shallow area over to the deep end. Adjusting the smaller boy on his back, Percy climbed up the pool stairs and started towards her. 

“Hey.” he said, stopping in front of her.

“Hey.” she returned, not really sure what to say next.

“Percy! Percy! Lift me out!” a little girl called still in the pool, waving a hand in the air. Percy reached down and clasped her hand, then hoisted her out of the water. 

“Whoa.” he said, smiling as she clung to his hand. His green eyes met Annabeth’s and he nudged his head in the direction of the diving board.

“Walk with me?” he asked.

“Maybe this time we won’t fall in.” she said, beginning to walk beside him and the two kids.

“Yeah, about that, I’m really sorry you got all wet, I should have been paying more attention.” he laughed.

“Don’t worry about it,” she waved off.

“Percy,” the little girl holding his hand began, “is this your girlfriend?” 

Annabeth laughed as Percy blushed, “No, Marie, she is not my girlfriend.” 

“But you’ve been staring at her since she walked into the pool.” Zeke reminded him. 

Percy’s blush deepened and his embarrassed smile grew as he jostled the kid on his back.

“Alright you punks, go join the rest of the class, I need to talk with Annabeth.” he said, releasing his hold on Marie’s hand and lowering Zeke. 

“Ooooooh!” they both yelled in usion, “He needs to talk with Annabeth!” Zeke teased, running over to the diving board.

“Hey, no running you two!” Percy called after them, laughing. He ran a hand through his wet hair and let his green eyes wander over to her.

“Sorry about that,” he said.

“No, it’s okay.” she smiled and enjoyed his embarrassment.

“So, um, I was wondering-” he was interrupted by the shouts from his class as they ran around the pool chairs and terrorized the people lounging. His eyes flickered over to them quickly, before going back to her face.

“I was wondering if you would come on a date with me? Tomorrow night, maybe?” He said slowly, raising his eyebrows in question. 

“Maybe…” she said grinning.

“Yeah?” his eyes looked hopeful.

“Yeah.” She laughed, watching the kids playfully push each other out of the corner of her eye. Percy noticed this too, and began taking steps backward, gesturing with his hands to his class.

“So, I’ll pick you up tomorrow night.”

“Do you want me phone number?” she asked.

“Well, uh…” he hesitated, “Piper gave it to me last night actually…”

“Oh.” Annabeth said surprised, “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Yeah.” Percy said, smiling once more at her before turning his full attention to his class.

“Alright guys, enough of that, c’mon!” he shouted, jogging over to his kids.

Annabeth was in a great mood as she walked back over to her friends. Leo must have stopped making horrible puns, because he was now talking to Jason, waving his arms in the air wildly. Piper was laying down on her chair, tanning under the sun. Annabeth settled back into her chair, picking up her book and waiting for Piper to attack her with questions. 

After reading a few pages without being bothered, she decided to bring it up.

“You gave him my phone number?” she said, still staring at her book. 

“Oh my god! I knew he was gonna ask you out! Didn’t I say he was gonna do that, Jason? You guys are going to make such a cute couple. I knew you liked him too, the way you acted earlier when you thought Leo’s seat was his, Ha! I swear you blushed! And don’t worry, I practically forced him to take your number, he said he felt like a stalker but I knew it would come in handy. What are you gonna wear? What are you guys gonna do? Ah, it’s so cute!” Piper babbled on next to her, not even seeing if she was paying attention. 

Normally Piper wouldn’t be this excited about Annabeth’s date, but she had been waiting a year for her to move on. It made Annabeth wonder, when did she decide she was ready to date again? 

And when did she decide she would say yes to a date with Percy?


	4. the dive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first date

The next morning Annabeth was at the grocery store, trying to get her chores for the weekend over with before her date with Percy. As she was examining the bags of carrots, looking for the best one, she was suddenly pushed forward by someones run away cart.

“Hey!” she exclaimed, dropping the bag but catching herself before she could tumble into the broccoli. Turning around ready to give the reckless shopper a piece of her mind, her heart nearly stopped when she saw who it was.

“Annabeth?” he asked, his ice blue eyes staring into hers intensely.

“Luke?” Annabeth replied, her tone less excited and more cautious.

“I can’t believe this!” he exclaimed, reaching over to hug her. His arms embraced her, wrapping tightly around her slim shoulders. Annabeth’s hands just hovered awkwardly in the air, not sure if she should hug back or not. Annabeth cleared her throat, very uncomfortable with the situation. She hadn’t seen Luke in almost a year, ever since they broke up.

Luke pulled back but held onto Annabeth’s shoulders, “I never would have thought that I’d run into you. At the grocery store of all places!”

“Yeah, crazy…” Annabeth muttered, discreetly trying to step back. She could feel him waiting for a bigger reaction, for her to hug him back with equal friendliness or actually look him in the eye. Honestly, she didn’t know how to react.

“So, how have you been?” Her ex chatted, finally removing his arms and leaning down to pick up a bag of carrots. She was slightly annoyed when he grabbed the bag that she had dropped when he crashed into her, placing it into his own cart.

“Um, fine-listen, Luke, it was nice seeing you but I need to go-”

“What?! No way, we need to catch up” he crowed, reaching for her arm again. Swiftly, Annabeth moved behind her cart, using it like shield.

“I know, but this is just really horrible timing for me-”

“We should go get coffee sometime.” he interrupted, following her behind the cart.

“Ugh…” Annabeth mumbled, scrambling to gather her thoughts.

“Dammit Luke, just leave me alone.” she snapped in her head.

“C’mon, Annabeth, for old times sake?” he pleaded.

“Ugh, well, I really don’t know what my schedule is but-”

“Great! Here I will give you my new number and you can call me whenever you’re free.” he said cheerfully, extending a hand for her phone. Hesitantly, she reached into her pocket for the phone, and handed it over. Before she could even process what was happening, Luke entered the number, gave her back the phone, and kissed her quickly on the cheek before walking away with her carrots. She stood there for a minute, her mind reeling.

“What the fuck just happened?” she muttered, before turning and bolting to the checkout line, wanting to get out of the supermarket as soon as possible.

*

Later that day, Annabeth’s phone buzzed. Assuming it to be Piper, probably asking about what she’s wearing tonight, she was pleasantly surprised to see it was Percy.

Percy: We still on for tonight?

Staring at the phone for a minute, she decided to keep her answer simple.

Annabeth: Yes.

Percy texted back immediately.

Percy: You sound so excited

Annabeth: I will be when I know where we’re going.

Percy: It’s a surprise

Annabeth: You don’t know yet, do you?

Percy: Pfft, yes I do

Annabeth: Alright, whatever you say…

Percy: Are you doubting my date planning abilities?

Annabeth: Little bit

Percy: Be prepared Annabeth Chase for the best date of your life

Annabeth snorted, about to go get ready when her phone buzzed again.

Percy: Don’t wear anything fancy, we’ll be taking it all off later ;)

Annabeth was confused, before another text came.

Percy: Okay, that sounded so inappropriate, but just trust me, ‘kay?

Annabeth: Alright, Seaweed Brain

*

She heard Percy before she saw him.

A loud rumbling could be heard from her bathroom, and when she looked out the window she watched the rusty, old jeep make it’s way down the street, turning into her apartment complex parking lot. Her date sat in the front seat, smiling like an idiot, and doing one of the worst parking jobs she had ever seen. Her phone buzzed a second later.

Percy: I’m here!!!!!

Annabeth: I heard

Annabeth: I’ll be down in a minute

When she got to the jeep, Percy was sitting on the back bumper, watching her approach. His smile grew even bigger when he saw the shirt she wore.

“We match.” he said, gesturing to his own Camp Half Blood shirt. The black lettering and pegasus were dulled down to a grey, and the bright orange was stained with what she assumed was white and blue paint.

“What happened to yours?” she asked, her own shirt in much better shape.

Percy shrugged, “I like wearing it.”

Jumping up from his seat, he walked over to the passenger side door and gave it a hard yank before it opened. He bowed deeply while holding it open for Annabeth to climb in, “M’Lady,” he said. Rolling her eyes, she climbed into the car and sat patiently as Percy ran back to his side and climbed in too.

“So,” she asked, “Where are we going?”

“Tut, tut,” he chided, starting the obnoxious vehicle, “Still a surprise.”

“C’mon!” Annabeth smiled, “Tell me!”

“Nope.” Percy grinned.

“Is it a physical activity?”

“You’re not gonna be able to guess, Annabeth,” Percy chuckled.

“Is it a physical activity?!” she repeated.

“Yes,”

“Will I get a workout doing it?”

“I guess?”

“Are we going hiking?”

“No,”

The guessing game continued for another 10 minutes as Percy drove them to the mystery destination.

“Could I break my arm doing this activity?” she guessed.

“It is very unlikely.”

“What if I-”

“We’re here.” Percy grinned, pulling into...

“The aquarium?” she asked, looking over at him. His grin grew even wider, as he clambered out of the car to come get her on the passenger side.

“I work here on the weekends, sometimes weekdays.” he said, reaching for her hand. Taking it gingerly, she hopped down from the car and together they walked into the building.

Annabeth had only been here one time before, pre Jason and Piper dating, They all went as friends, but left as a new couple and the awkward third wheel. She found it funny that Percy took her here, and honestly wasn’t very surprised. She wouldn’t have guessed it in their game, but something random and quirky like this was anticipated.

“So, I know our past encounters with water haven’t been too successful, but I thought we would be able to handle this...” Percy babbled.

“Yeah, I think we’ll manage,” she laughed, but grew silent when she saw the new painting of the ocean on the ceiling. It had bright coral reefs, dancing sea horses and dolphins, prowling sharks, and lazy fish. Seaweed weaved throughout the painting in varying shades of green, and a huge blue whale swam in the background. One of the most impressive pieces of artwork was the sunken pirate ship that dominated the bottom right corner. The intricate mural of the sea was new, it hadn’t been there the last time she came.

“It’s beautiful,” she muttered, admiring the architecture as well as the art.

“My friend Rachel helped paint it,” Percy commented, grabbing her hand and leading her across the lobby.

“Look at the archways, I never noticed them before,” she admired, pointing to the swooping ceilings rimmed with seashells.

“Do you like that kind of stuff?” Percy asked.

“Yeah, I want to be an architect when I get out of college.”

“So, you would like... build buildings?”

“We design them,” she corrected.

Looking around, Annabeth noticed the lack of people in the lobby.

“When does this close?” she wandered.

“In about...10 minutes,” Percy said, looking at the clock on the wall, “I got permission from my boss for us to stay later.”

“What-” Annabeth began to ask when someone interrupted her.

“Hey, Perce!” one of the remaining staff called to them, walking over.

“Hey, Frank,” Percy smiled, and pulled Annabeth over to greet him.

Frank Zhang was someone Annabeth hadn’t seen since high school, and she probably wouldn’t have even recognized him. Frank had grown, gotten more muscle and no longer had a cute baby face. His shirt seemed strained against his chest, his arms twice as big as she remembered, and he had gotten taller too. Although his outer appearance had changed, he still seemed like the sweet and timid boy from senior year chemistry class.

“Hey, you guys match.” Frank noticed, stopping in front of them and pointing to their matching shirts.

“Yup, showing off our greek pride,” Percy smirked, wrapping an arm around Annabeth and squeezing her against him.

“You know, I probably still have my SPQR shirt somewhere…”

“You went to Camp Jupiter?” Annabeth asked, allowing Percy to keep his arm around her.

“Yeah, that’s where I met Percy actually,” Frank responded shyly.

“Really?” Annabeth looked over to her date as he smirked again.

“I wanted to give both camps a try,”

“Did you destroy that one too?” Annabeth teased.

“Not as much, no,” Percy chuckled, “So, Frank, I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

“Yes, I’ll be a little late though, so expect me at 9.” Frank said, walking towards the door, “Bye, Annabeth, nice seeing you,” he told her politely.

“Good seeing you, too.” she smiled at him as he left.

“He’s a cool guy,” Percy remarked as they kept walking through the aquarium.

“He’s so much...bigger than I remember,” Annabeth replied.

“Yeah, he’s a late bloomer, that Frank,” Percy chuckled.

“So, are you going to tell me what were doing here?” Annabeth questioned again.

Percy groaned, “You are so impatient,”

“Tell me.” she demanded one last time.

“Fine.” Percy huffed, leading her into the staff changing rooms. Taking two wet suits off the hanger, he held them in front of her.

“You know that giant fish tank that spirals around the stairs and is filled with dozens of fish and stuff?” he questioned, smiling excitedly.

“Yeah…”

“Well, we are going to snorkel in it.” he proclaimed.

“Are you serious?” Annabeth asked in amazement.

“Yup, I got permission from my boss so we won’t get in trouble or anything. I’m one of those people that snorkels during the day and everyone takes pictures of me, feeding the fish and that kind of stuff. I thought it would be cool for us to try...unless you don’t want to?”

“No! No, of course I do!” she smiled at him in reassurance, and was glad to see his momentarily worried expression vanish.

“Good, okay, yes,” he mumbled, “Alright, so just change into that-ugh wait, here…” Reaching into his locker, he pulled out one of her bathing suits.

“Okay, so before you get really creeped out, Piper gave me this because I told her about my idea and I didn’t want to ruin the surprise because you would have figured it out if I had asked you to bring that so I just asked Piper for one of your suits and well, yeah.” Percy explained quickly, looking at the ground embarrassed as he gave her the suit.

“It’s okay, Percy, I understand,” she smiled at his bashfulness and accepted the bathing suit. Before he left, Percy showed her the correct way to put on the wet suit and where to meet him when she finished changing.

10 minutes later, Annabeth was standing beside Percy, geared up in her snorkeling attire. She gazed down into the deep tank where hundreds of colorful fish swam.

“You ready?” Percy asked, reaching for her hand.

“Yeah,” she grinned and intertwined her fingers in his.

“Okie-dokie!” Percy said, causing Annabeth to snort.

“What?”

“You just said ‘okie-dokie’.”

“So?”

“It just sounds funny,” Annabeth laughed, squeezing his fingers.

“My apologies, your grace, I didn’t know I would be judged on my language during our outing today,” Percy rolled his eyes, “Anyway, I’ll get in first and then I’ll ease you in…”

Annabeth watched as Percy climbed the small ladder into the water and followed his instructions as he guided her to do the same. She had never been scared of the water before, or the ocean, but looking down and seeing all of the fish kinda freaked her out.

“This is crazy…” she muttered, as a small blue fish swam by her foot.

“I know, right?” As they floated above the water, Annabeth’s body swayed closer to Percy’s until their feet began to play under water footsie.

“Do you wanna dive?” Percy asked, his face suddenly very close to hers. His eyes were bright, the water making the green stand out even more. Cheesy thoughts filled her mind, imagining waking up to those eyes and getting lost in them forever, drowning in his sea.

‘Ew, stop it Annabeth, this isn’t a Nicholas Spark’s novel.’ she thought, annoyed with herself. Discreetly, she used her arms and let the water carry her farther away from Percy.

“Yeah,” she grinned, “let’s go!”

Adjusting her goggles and other gear, they let their heads sink under the water and into an entire other world. Percy had already warned her of the rules, assuring her that no fish was dangerous and that they would most likely avoid them.

Percy led the way, Annabeth following closely behind, as the coexisted with the other species. They passed so many different kinds of fish, they began to blur together. A huge sting ray swam over her head at one point, and a school of guppies crowded next to her. The entire experience was fascinating and Annabeth was jealous Percy got to do this all the time. He would turn around and attempt to smile at her through his mask, and she would return it with a big thumbs up. Time passed, how much Annabeth wasn’t sure. Eventually Percy pointed a finger up to the ceiling, signaling they needed to surface. Saying a silent goodbye to the world of fish, she followed him up to the top of the tank.

“That was amazing!” she exclaimed the minute she removed her mask.

“Welcome to my world,’ Percy grinned, swimming over to the ladder. After he climbed out, he reached down a hand for Annabeth and helped her. When they were both standing on the platform, dripping water all over the place, Percy still wouldn’t let go of her hand. He was looking at her, and she could tell he wanted to kiss.

‘Do I want him to kiss me?’ she thinks.

Percy started to lean forward, his eyes slowly closing but still open to make sure she would return the kiss. Warning signs flashed in Annabeth’s brain, ‘I didn’t have enough time to over analyze my emotions!’ she thought in her mind, ‘I’m not ready for this!’

Quickly, Annabeth took a step back and pulled her hand from Percy’s.

“I think I have to go now, I have the morning shift, so…” she awkwardly mumbled. Percy seemed surprised, his eyes falling and his puckered lips growing thin.

“Oh,” he said, clasping his hands together in front of him, “Okay, let’s go get changed then…”

*

The ride home was awkward.

It was unbearable.

Percy was trying to brush the rejection off, but when he had turned the music on the instant they got into the car, she knew he was upset.

‘Why didn’t you let him kiss you?’ Part of her mind demanded.

‘I’m not ready, it was the first date after all.’ she argued back.

“You like him though,’ her inner thoughts reminded her.

The trial continued, her mind pointing out the many confused emotions she felt. When they reached her apartment, Percy parked and turned the car off. They sat in silence for a minute, both staring straight ahead.

Finally, he sighed, “Annabeth,” he took a deep breath, and turned completely in his seat so he was facing her. She stared at the mole he had on his neck, the way his lips never fully closed, the sparse hairs on his eyebrows.

‘Why am I attracted to you?’ she thought. ‘You’re nothing like Luke, your personalities are complete opposites, and your looks. You’re nothing like anyone I would normally be interested in, so why do I want to kiss you?’

It was like her mind shut down, all reason disappearing from her brain. Her mind had no counter argument, everything inside her screamed ‘KISS HIM!’

“Annabeth,” he repeated, “Did I-”

“Percy.” She said.

His forehead creased in confusion, “What?”

She continued to analyze him with her sharp grey eyes, not saying anything.

“What is it, Annabeth?” he asked again, flustered.

“Screw it,” she muttered, before leaning over and kissing Percy on the mouth, grabbing his shirt in her fist. His lips were soft and tasted like artificial raspberry, and he smelled like fish. She could tell he was surprised, but eventually he ran a hand through her hair and pressed his lips even harder against hers. Annabeth pulled away, enough to let their foreheads rest against each other.

“Why do your lips taste like raspberry?” She whispered.

“My chapstick, Berry Twist. Want some?” He smiled

“No thanks, I’m good.”

“Want to go on another date?”

“Okay.”

“I’ll text you.”

“Mmmmm,”

“Can you let go of my shirt now?”

“Oh,” Annabeth leaned away and released the grip she had on Percy’s shirt. He laughed and looked like he was going to say something else, but Annabeth’s mind had decided to come out of its coma and it was giving her a headache. Opening the jeeps door, she hopped out and gave Percy a breathy “Bye!” before running back to her apartment. She could already hear Piper’s screams of delight when she told her what happened.  


End file.
